God Who Is There (30th Anniversary) [Paperback]

OverviewThis completely redone edition of the landmark book that changed the way the church sees the world includes a new Introduction by James W. Sire, that places Shaeffer's seminal work in the context of the intellectual turbulence of the early 21st century.

Publishers DescriptionIn 2006, Christianity Today voted this title to be one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals For over thirty years The God Who Is There has been the landmark book that changed the way the church sees the world. In Francis Schaeffer's remarkable analysis, we learn where the clashing ideas about God, science, history and art came from and where they are going. Now this completely retypeset edition includes a new introduction by James W. Sire that places Schaeffer's seminal work in the context of the intellectual turbulence of the early twenty-first century. More than ever, The God Who Is There demonstrates how historic Christianity can fearlessly confront the competing philosophies of the world. The God who has always been there continues to provide the anchor of truth and the power of love to meet the world's deepest problems.

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Schaeffer's book has changed my life and many around me. Using a historical-cultural approach, Schaeffer explains the development in ideology and practice of what he calls "the line of despair," the divide between the physical realm and the metaphysical realm that prevents humanity from knowing about transcendent things. But he is not only able to identify the line, he also explains how to get beyond it.

I have lived for years in a society that has told me that such things are unknowable, that they must be a matter of belief only, but Schaeffer's book dispells all such misconceptions. "The God Who is There" provides a solid intellectual foundation for faith in a world of shifting sand.

If you read and like this book, I would recommend reading Schaeffer's book "He is There and He is Not Silent" immediately afterward.

ALong

An Amazing Work Nov 25, 2003

I would say that this book is a classic. Francis Schaeffer doesn't mince any words, this is a potent response to postmodernism. I found the book to be very helpful, especially the diagrams he provides. His descriptions of the "line of despair" and other concepts are very helpful in understanding postmodernism.

This book is just what you need if you want to understand more about worldviews and their relation to apologetics.

I would recommend this book as it is a captivating read and is very informative also.

Almost Five Stars May 25, 2003

I picked up this book after seeing F.S. referenced many times in the works of Chuck Colson. For those of you familiar with the apologetic work of Colson, FS runs in the same vein; namely, that Christianity has reasonable foundations and more importantly, it is the worldview most compatible with reality. My main problem with the book is that FS did not spend enough time in the first 2 parts of the book elucidating his propositions, thus the 4 star rating. By the middle of the book I figured out what he was doing.The Book Itself:Several of his theses are: postmodern man lives "below the line of despair". Following that, he is forced into a dichotomy of existential despair or Christian Truth. His primary thesis is that of the anithesis: if one thing is true, then its opposite is not true. He then shows how a denial of this has pervaded modern culture, especially that of art.

Final Analysis:I found the book interesting, even it written too fast. I wished he would have clarified many things early on. Nevertheless, this has moved me to read more of his works

A Must-Read for People with Questions! Feb 22, 2003

Schaeffer systematically discusses modern (postmodern) thought and its relationship to Christianity. He does skim many details but his overall point is revolutionary, and as appropriate today as it was when it was first written. As a classical musician, I was amazed at the accuracy of his analysis of the recent history of music. His writing style is clear, sometimes tedious, but it's worth the read. His clarity sometimes comes off as oversimplification, but I think a closer look will reveal a complicated, beautiful source of hope for a generation in search of meaning. I highly recommend this to anyone with serious philosophical questions as to the validity of Christianity.

Schaeffer paints a picture of modern art, philosophy, theology, and culture as fundamentally nihilistic and leading to despair. His tidy solution to this modern angst is to accept the God of evangelical Christianity. To support this overriding narrative Schaeffer often sacrifices intellectual rigor in interpreting a broad number of often disparate figures. Thus, he paints an over-simplified and indeed distorted picture of contemporary thought. Shaeffer's claim that "There is real unity in non-Christian thought" (16) is taken to laughable extremes.

For example, he writes, "With Hegel and Kierkegaard man gave up the concept of a rational, unified field of knowledge and accepted instead the idea of a leap of faith" (44). Here we see Schaeffer lumping two thinkers who have significant differences--i.e., much of Kierkegaard's oeuvre is anti-Hegelian polemic--into an over-simplified "sound bite." Indeed, the notion of a "leap of faith" originates with Kierkegaard, but does anything Schaeffer writes here said sound remotely Hegelian? Hardly. But, Schaeffer isn't troubled by such details. The only apparent purpose of such name-dropping seems to be an effort at gaining credibility.

In another example, Schaeffer suggest that "because he could not live with his existentialism Heidegger as an older man moved his position" (68). Does Schaeffer really have such a privileged access to Heidegger's inner thoughts that he could make such a claim? Heidegger certainly never did anywhere in his writing; in fact he never considered himself an existentialist in the first place (see Heidegger's "Letter on Humanism"). But, again, in support of his narrative of "Jesus is the solution to the despair of the modern world," Schaeffer offers a disingenuous reading of a complex philosopher.

While it is probably clear by now that I am not an evangelical Christian, I would urge evangelical scholars and intellectuals to try to be more intellectually honest and rigorous than Schaeffer. Scholars like Merold Westphal present a much more credible and honest Christian perspective to those outside the flock. Schaeffer's work may be adequate to stifle the doubts of an already Christian teenager, but his poor scholarship will hardly win any intellectually mature converts.